Struggling Gunners to break bank for stars

Jeremy Wilson

Arsenal are ready to relax their wage structure to help attract the world-class talent that Arsene Wenger wants to boost his squad.

Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski are the club's highest-paid players on just under £100,000 ($148,000) a week but, with centre-forward the priority position, there is a willingness to break through that barrier.

It is understood Arsenal were prepared to offer Robin van Persie a new contract worth £140,000 a week last northern summer, and are prepared to reach similar figures this year for the right player. Stevan Jovetic, the Fiorentina striker, is being watched, and Wenger retains a strong interest in Borussia Dortmund playmaker Mario Gotze. Both would command transfer fees and wages well in excess of Arsenal's previous budget.

Arsenal have about £70 million in their transfer fund, with this week's half-yearly accounts showing that the cash balance at the bank stands at £123 million. This is not exclusively available for squad strengthening, as it must also deal with the club's running costs, but it is clear Wenger has more money at his disposal than ever before.

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Arsenal's financial certainty is further enhanced by the new shirt sponsorship contract with Emirates worth an additional £22 million a year. A kit deal that would bring in about £20 million a year from next year is also being renegotiated.

According to the most recently published accounts, Arsenal's annual wage bill already stands at £143 million. That is only £17 million less than Manchester United and about £50 million more than Tottenham, albeit well below both Manchester City and Chelsea.

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Arsenal's spending on wages accounts for more than half of the club's turnover, meaning that significant increases in the overall wage-bill could not be sustainable without the new commercial deals.

At least £6.5 million will also be freed up from Arsenal's wage bill by the departure of several high earners at the end of this season, notably Sebastien Squillaci and Andrei Arshavin, who are both out of contract.

Nicklas Bendtner, Andre Santos, Marouane Chamakh, Johan Djourou and Park Chu-young will also be available, although Arsenal's difficulty in selling well-paid but underperforming players has been evident in recent transfer windows. Arsenal's wage structure has been criticised as overly generous to mediocre players and too cautious for exceptional players. There is a realisation, however, that the sort of players Wenger has been scouting can only be signed if the wage structure is stretched.

Wenger still believes there will be a general trend away from players being paid more than £200,000 a week as Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules takes effect, and believes Arsenal will be able compete for the very best.

Out ... Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin is off contract at the end of the season. Photo: Getty Images

At 23, Jovetic is regarded as similar in style and potential to a young van Persie, and would cost about £20 million. Wenger is also targeting a right-back amid uncertainty about Bacary Sagna's future, and wants another holding midfielder as an option alongside Mikel Arteta, with Toulouse's Etienne Capoue still on his radar.

Sagna has been offered a one-year extension to a contract that expires next year but is understood to want a longer deal. Arsenal believe their offer is sensible for a player who has just turned 30 and suffered several serious injuries. Wojciech Szczesny's dip in form will also force careful consideration of the goalkeeping department, with Pepe Reina and Asmir Begovic among the options.

With Wenger himself out of contract next year, his success in the off-season transfer market and how Arsenal start next season could be pivotal in deciding whether he remains at the club beyond next year.

His plan is to continue to rebuild around a British core, notably Jack Wilshere, Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs, but also use the club's greater financial strength to have a better chance of competing for the world's elite players.

Dennis Bergkamp, meanwhile, will become the next Arsenal legend to be immortalised with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium later this year. Bergkamp, who was part of the "Invincible" team of 2003-04, was voted second by Arsenal fans in a poll of the club's greatest players. Statues of Thierry Henry, Tony Adams and Herbert Chapman were erected in December 2011.